The Dinnertime Prayer

"God? My food. Amen." This is the earliest prayer I can remember one of my girls praying. Although a few words were missing, and it lacked eloquence, I am positive God had no trouble filling in the gaps with the words that were in her heart, but not yet on her lips.

As a young mother, my greatest desire was for my girls to have a sense of God's presence in our home. I wanted them to think of Him as a family member in our house, one that belonged, so that as they grew in their understanding of who He was, they would also come to know Him personally.

In Luke 13:1, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray like they had heard Him pray. Perhaps they were seeking words that they thought would be required to reach God, but Jesus did not provide them with a specific prayer to pray. Instead, He offered them a model that would help them realize the truths about God and become grounded in their faith. These truths included acknowledging God as their Father, being mindful of His marvelous workings in their lives and the lives of those they met. He challenged them to consider what it would be like to live by asking for the will of the Father in their lives, rather than their own will. He addressed the issue of sin in their lives, emphasizing the need for them to acknowledge their wrongdoings and agree with Him to be restored to a right relationship with Him. He talked to them about forgiveness for themselves and extending it to others. Jesus wasn't asking them to recite rote words, but He was calling them to see Him as ever present and their source for all things, their very lifeline. The one who already knew their hearts, the one whose hearts were already seen by more than mere words.

That dinnertime prayer prayed so many years ago taught me a lot. I sometimes offer the same kind of prayers - ones with words missing, thoughts jumbled, and honestly, some questioning too. Yet I know, He pays no mind to all my shortcomings. Protocol is the furthest thing from His mind, because He sees my heart. He is God to me, not just a fixture. He's real. Real enough to fill in all my missing words.

One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.

Luke 11:1 (NIV)

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